Conservative Christians Welcome Defeat of Compromised Mass. Gay Marriage Ban
Massachusetts state legislators defeated a proposal to amend the constitution to ban same-sex marriage and allow civil unions on Wednesday. Conservative Christian groups welcomed the defeat, saying the measure was compromised.
Massachusetts state legislators defeated a proposal to amend the constitution to ban same-sex marriage and allow civil unions on Wednesday. Conservative Christian groups welcomed the defeat, saying the measure was compromised.
At a joint session of the state Senate and House of Representatives in Boston, lawmakers voted 157-39 to easily defeat the measure, which had passed a year earlier in a much tighter vote. State laws require that the legislature approve a measure in two consecutive sessions before it can go before voters for a statewide ballot in 2006.
Conservatives, including state Gov. Mitt Romey (R), said the legislative decision was not a loss, as it cleared the way for support a less compromising proposal that would also ban civil unions.
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"I am pleased that the compromise amendment before the constitutional convention was defeated,” Romey said, according to the Associated Press. “Now, we can work to put on the ballot a simpler amendment that simply defines marriage as between a man and a woman.”
The planned amendment to ban both same-sex marriages and civil unions could end up on voter ballots only as early as 2008.
The Massachusetts Family Institute, a Christian pro-family group says it has been actively lobbying for the defeat of the amendment since June, saying that it was a “compromise amendment that no one supported," that was "seeking to satisfy both sides but in the end satisfying none."
"Many citizens who oppose gay marriage also oppose civil unions," said MFI President Kris Mineau. "MFI believes it is confusing and unethical to restrict citizens to one vote on two opposing issues, which this amendment would have done.”
The statement said that efforts would now be made to gather the 66,000 signatures and support of 25 percent of the legislature needed to pass the new measure.
In November 2003, Massachusetts became the first state in the United States to legalize same-sex marriage, when its highest court said homosexuals had a right to marry. The first weddings took place in May of 2004. Since they began, over 6,100 people have married, according to the Associated Press.
Since that time, 11 states have enacted laws specifically banning same-sex marriage bringing the total to 17 states.
